Justice Prisoner and Alien Transportation System

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A US Marshal on a "Con Air" flight.

The Justice Prisoner and Alien Transportation System (JPATS) is a Federal Government agency charged with the transportation of persons in legal custody between prisons, detaining centers, courthouses, and other places where they must be transported. It is also known to many as Con Air.

The agency was formed in 1995 when the Immigration and Naturalization Service and the United States Marshals Service merged their air fleets, the Justice Prisoner and Alien Transportation System (JPATS) transports more than a quarter million prisoners and aliens each year. Run by the Marshals Service, all scheduling is handled at JPATS headquarters in Kansas City, Missouri. Air fleet operations are located in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, with hubs in: Anchorage, Alaska; Mesa, Arizona; Alexandria, Louisiana; and the Virgin Islands.

Usually, the airline employs Boeing 727 or Boeing/McDonnell-Douglas MD-83 aircraft to transport convicts and illegal residents of the United States for extradition. Smaller jets and turboprops are also used to transport individual prisoners who are considered particularly dangerous.

According to the Boeing Jetliner Databook, JPATS operates 4 Boeing 727s. JPATS also operates an additional 4 MD-83 aircraft.

JPATS aircraft use the ICAO designator DOJ with the callsign JUSTICE

Some of the leased JPATS aircraft are also flown for Pace Airlines under the name of Vacation Express. For example, the aircraft with registration N375PA can be seen in at Airliners.Net in both liveries.

Immediately after the September 11, 2001 attacks, when the Federal Aviation Administration grounded all civilian air service, JPATS was the only non-military air service allowed to continue flying in U.S. airspace.

1 History and Evolution
2 Con Air Today
3 References in pop culture
4 External links

[edit] History and Evolution

Prior to the existence of JPATS, the transport of an inmate over long distances was complicated. The process required an escort by two U.S. Marshals, accompanying the inmate on a regular passenger airplane. This posed numerous problems, including danger to civilians, a backlog of marshals needed to perform such escorts, and a high taxpayer expense.

In the early 1970s, the U.S. Marshals were offered a donation from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), a Boeing 727 aircraft. Though no purpose was originally designated for this plane, one official had the idea of using it for the mass transportation of federal inmates.

Hence, the new Con Air was formed. The airline ultimately improved the efficiency of inmate transportation and made the sight of a shackled commercial airline passenger a thing of the past. For a plane full of 200 inmates, only 12 marshals are required.

[edit] Con Air Today

Today's JPATS fleet has expanded to eight full-sized aircraft. These planes fly a large series of routes that serve nearly every major U.S. city.

The schedule of Con Air is kept secret from the public, and is known only to those directly involved in its operation. Even passengers scheduled to fly are given no advance notice of their flight and are taken by surprise. There are several benefits of keeping the schedule secret.

The location of airplanes is not known to those who may have an interest in sabotaging a flight or harming any of its passengers.
As inmates are taken by surprise, they cannot plan their own escape or arrange with outsiders to aid their escape from custody.

Passengers aboard a Con Air flight are restrained by handcuffs as well as ankle and waist chains which are double or even triple locked. Those who pose additional danger may be given additional restraint.

All passengers are held by a code of total silence, and are only permitted to speak to marshals as necessary.

Seating arrangements are made carefully with the intent to separate inmates who may be of conflict to one another.

Unlike in penitentiaries, male and female inmates fly together on the same planes.

When a Con Air flight lands, passengers are greeted by a line of marshals with their rifles drawn out.

[edit] References in pop culture

The 1997 Nicolas Cage movie Con Air was set on this airline. "Con Air" was already a nickname for JPATS (historically it had referred to Continental Airlines). The movie portrays the interior of the plane (a C-123 Provider) as a much steelier, more prison-like environment than a typical JPATS 727, which in reality looks much like any other airliner.